In a report from real estate company CBRE, Metro Vancouver’s available industrial space dropped from 3.9 per cent to 2.3 per cent between 2016 and 2017, and they predict that by the end of 2018 it will fall to a historic 1.7 per cent.

The report says rent is up 13.6 per cent year-over-year in Metro Vancouver, at an average $10.23 per foot by the last quarter of 2017.

WATCH: Metro Vancouver commercial real estate boom

Senior vice president of industrial, Chris MacCauley, said that small businesses wanting to expand may be pushed out of the province.

“People are gonna have to go to not maybe an ideal spot for their business. They’re gonna have to go down the list.”

MacCauley said while it used to take six to 12 months for businesses to find a space, it now hovers between 24 and 36 months.